Conversational writing : a multidimensional study of synchronous and supersynchronous computer-mediated communication

• Main Author: Jonsson, Ewa
• Format: eBook Book
• Language: English
• Published: Frankfurt am Main P. Lang 2015; Peter Lang International Academic Publishers
• Series: English Corpus Linguistics
• Subjects: Authorship > Computer network sources; Communication Studies; computer chat; Conversation; Conversation analysis > Data processing; Digital communications; Face-to-face (philosophy); Interdisciplinary studies; Internet Relay Chat; irc communication; Language and Linguistics; Language Arts & Disciplines; Language learning: speaking skills; Language learning: specific skills; Language teaching and learning; Lexical density; Linguistics; Online social networks; Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects; social media; Speech & Pronunciation; split-window icq; Subset
• ISBN: 9783631671535; 3631671539; 9783653065121; 3653065127
• ISSN: 1610-868X
• DOI: 10.3726/978-3-653-06512-1

The author analyses computer chat as a form of communication. While some forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC) deviate only marginally from traditional writing, computer chat is popularly considered to be written conversation and the most “oral” form of written CMC. This book systematically explores the varying degrees of conversationality (“orality”) in CMC, focusing in particular on a corpus of computer chat (synchronous and supersynchronous CMC) compiled by the author. The book employs Douglas Biber’s multidimensional methodology and situates the chats relative to a range of spoken and written genres on his dimensions of linguistic variation. The study fills a gap both in CMC linguistics as regards a systematic variationist approach to computer chat genres, and in variationist linguistics as regards a description of conversational writing.